One day, I woke up.

Well, I call it an awakening, but really it was more like a realization - or a recollection. Or both. Probably both.

So, let me rephrase: one day I understood that this world was a game. Annoyingly enough, it was one of those dating sim games.

A pink petal suddenly smacked my nose as the breeze picked up, forcing me to instinctively scrunch up my face. There were people all around, but the scene of bright petals gently falling from the blooming trees was apparently still touching enough to elicit little gasps of appreciation. The gasps took on a disapproving tone as a melodic "sorry!" rang out, a flash of long red hair whipping past my cheek as a girl squeezed through the crowd. She scurried away just as quickly as she came, and few derisive mutters and giggles later, the atmosphere was right back to normal. Students steadily made their way through the grand academy gates and down the spacious avenue, laughter and conversation intermingling in the sunny morning as everyone headed for the impressive building in the distance.

"Hey, did you hear? Apparently Augustus Ervinhart is enrolled! He'll finally be here as a first-year!" A girl nearby excitedly spoke to her friend.

"Augustus Ervinhart?" Her friend whisper-yelled before she continued somewhat wistfully, "I hope he prefers older girls!"

"We can find out, we can find out! I'd be okay with Yohan too, though. He's joining with Augustus, of course!"

"Yohan? Yohan Irwan?!"

I zoned out of their subsequent fangirling, a small cringe overtaking my features. 

Yohan Irwan. 

I didn't know him that well, but naturally that didn't stop me from having a mild aversion to the guy. How could I not? He was the reason I woke up to the truth behind this world. If he was normal, I bet I could have lived on perfectly ignorant. No, really - if he dressed like a regular, average 19-year-old human being, I probably would have lived my life unenlightened.

I sighed, slowly releasing my grievances and half-heartedly readjusting my tie. Five years had passed since then - since my awakening - so I was more or less adjusted by now. I've accepted where I was, and who I was. I've accepted my place in this dating sim game world. I really did. It wasn't so bad.

A burst of happy shouts caught my attention. I wasn't the only one; the people in my surrounding area craned their necks along with me, everyone looking off past the treeline to the grass fields. A group of guys were kicking a soccer ball around, their figures flickering through the trees as they ran to and fro. There were only about twenty minutes left until the first class began, but they didn't seem worried about time at all, blissfully enjoying their morning game.

I only had just turned back to the front when a new wave of murmurs rose up, my curiosity forcing me to glance off behind me and to my left. The road was definitely wide enough to hold many more stragglers, but people were respectfully parting to the sides and towards the treeline.

What, did Moses reincarnate?

My question was answered by two heads covered in blonde and black hair. 

Moses did reincarnate. He reincarnated in the form of the two hotshots of the academy, and his ability evolved to part seas of people this time too.

If I kept looking, I was sure that a brand new cringe would make its way onto my face, so it was better to look away.

I'd rather look at the soccer bros instead.

My body obediently followed my thoughts, my eyes sweeping to the side to observe the sporty students. Turns out, my timing was immaculate.

One guy kicked the ball to his buddy, and his buddy, as if suddenly possessed by the soul of an electrocuted fish, wildly threw out his twitching leg, punting the soccer ball past his friend, into the treeline, and straight ahead - straight towards me.

"Watch out!"

I ducked hard, way before the shout. The ball shot over my head, over the sudden yelps and exclamations, soaring faster than I could track until-!

A hard thunk echoed out.

I sneaked a quick peek towards its final resting place.

The blonde was now standing in front of his black-haired friend, his arm placed in a defensive position as the soccer ball lifelessly rolled by his feet.

Of course.

The soccer bro's sudden miskick made sense now: it was the main character effect, as I liked to call it. Wherever a main character walks, drama and excitement are bound to happen. This was true no matter the media, whether it be a novel or a movie or a dating sim game. Soccer bro was just the latest victim.

For someone like me, it's better to leave now. Definitely better to leave now.

A group of men and women alike surged forward, surrounding the two sensational characters with questions of concern and awe.

The soccer players were no different, all of them leaving the plain and stepping onto the concrete path as they made their way to Augustus and Yohan, each full of great regret.

I was almost the victim of that untamed ball, but where were my apologies?

I sniffed as I weaved between them.

Whatever, I'll just call myself a magnanimous human being and leave it at that.

It didn't take long for me to finally make it to the grandiose main building, but the same couldn't be said when it came to finding the location of my first class. After walking in a couple of long, long, long circles through equally lengthy corridors and showing my crumpled class schedule to various upperclassmen passing by, I had finally struggled my way to my first class.

Or rather, my first lecture hall.

It wasn't very large, although it was just enough to fit everyone who had this class this morning. The polished wooden double doors were wide open, an apathetic-looking elderly woman reading a book at the podium. Students noisily rushed around to take the last remaining seats.

Expressions varied; some exuded confidence, others anxiety, and some just expectant neutrality. As usual, there were also kids slumped into their plushy chairs, already dozing off.

I guess some things never change.

Students will be students no matter where, even in a game world. The same scenes were prevalent in my last life as well.

I scanned the bustling hall for the nearest open seat, spotting one near the middle of a row closer to the back wall than to the front podium. It was less than ideal, but there was no point in being picky right now.

Why was it less than ideal?

"Excuse me...sorry...my bad, sorry...,"

My frequent muttering apologies continuously swept past my lips as I clambered through the fifteen students towards the seat, my hands jerking as I took the largest steps I could traverse over the briefcases littered across the narrow pathway.

Don't glare at me, please. It's not like I want to be stepping over legs that are longer than life.

I wouldn't be going through this awkward process if this was a seat at the end of a row. I don't care about sitting near the front, but next time I should try to find my class as fast as possible to snatch up a seat at the edge.

I plopped into the chair as soon as I reached it, maneuvering my briefcase into my lap and shifting to sit more comfortably.

"...the envelope was just on the table, and what would you do if you saw that? Hm? What would you do? I wouldn't open it. You wouldn't open it either, right? It's the easiest thing to just chase them down and return their envelope, or even just leave it on the table, but what do you think he did? He opened it! Yuriy picked up the envelope and opened it! Isn't that absolutely ridiculous? It is, isn't it? I mean...," 

Was I sitting next to a machine gun? Who talks so much without pause? 

I glanced at the guy at my right, edging to the side to avoid his waving hands as he rambled emphatically to his friend - although, judging by the deadpan expression, his friend's soul probably ascended long ago.

"...it's absolutely ridiculous, isn't it?" 

Oh, so he does need to breathe after all. 

The guy stopped speaking for a moment, taking the time to nudge his glasses up as he waited for his friend's response. My ears perked up; I was just invested as the machine gun, coupled with a feeling of morbid curiosity. 

How does someone even reply to an ocean of words like that?

Seconds of silence passed. 

"Huh? Oh, uh...," his friend stuttered, opening and closing his mouth a few times. He cleared his throat, licked his lips, cleared his throat again, and then- 

The hall reverberated with a sudden increase in whispers, briefly distracting me as the sound overpowered the nearby conversation I was eavesdropping on. It passed quickly, but...

"...a piece of garbage - I told him as much. Hey, you should stay out of his way. He's not a good person to be associated with," the machine gun said. 

Wait...wait, I didn't hear! What did your friend say? What did he say! 

I sagged into my seat, flashing a discontented expression at the culprits of this tragedy. 

Was this the way this stupid dating game was going to treat a character like me? 

Augustus and Yohan gracefully accepted some open seats saved for them in the front row, while the black-haired girl who had walked in with them sauntered off to sit some rows behind them, a posse of other girls milling about her. 

Oh, the villainess.

A series of claps rang out from the woman at the podium, the hall descending into silence rather quickly. I happily changed the subject of my attention, sighing once as I refocused. 

"Welcome to Marivik Academy. My name is Freyda Raiz, the principal of this honorable institution. I will now take roll. Please respond when your name is called." 

The mic crackled at the end of her announcement, but Freyda didn't seem perturbed as she held a stack of papers in her hands, squinted, and called out the first name. The kid nearly jumped out of his seat to answer, eliciting a small laugh through the student body. Freyda moved on, a new voice calling out after every name. 

"Augustus Ervinhart?" 

"Here!" 

That one syllable oozed confidence, perfectly living up to his position in this world. From what I remembered, the blonde was one of the capture targets - a very popular one too, and it was no surprise. Augustus was the young prince of this kingdom, five years younger than his brother, the Crown Prince. He was gifted in both athletics and studies, and his good looks and charismatic bearing weren't things that could easily be ignored either. 

"Yohan Irwan?" 

"Here." 

Yohan's syllable was curt but unyielding, just like his personality, I assume. The young heir to a ministerial family was academically gifted enough to be at the top of every class, but he was never seen to play any sports. Additionally, he was known as a bit of an enigma. The reason for all that mystery? 

A burst of sleek silver glinted as Yohan turned his head, listening intently to whatever Augustus was saying to him. 

Right: he wore a mask. For reasons that I never cared to find out, Yohan wore a silver mask that covered the top half of his face. I think he never took it off even in the game, so a rumor went out in my last life that he was scarred underneath. His popularity dipped, and it was almost unanimously agreed upon that while Yohan was swoon-worthy with his intelligence, stand-offish personality, powerful background, and attractive (visible) features, he would always be the second most popular capture target. 

In my eyes, though, anyone that wore a silver mask like that in daily life could be nothing more than an eccentric. 

There were more capture targets than that, but I couldn't remember them. I wasn't shocked by my lack of information. The only reason I even knew as much as I did about the game wasn't that I played it; at the time I just had a very talkative nurse, and the game had blown up across various social media, inevitably leaking into my daily life back then.

"Milana Kinlissan?" 

"Here." 

The girl crossed her arms after speaking, flashing a smirky smile. The moment she walked in with Augustus and Yohan, I had no doubt that the beautiful young woman was the villainess of this story. Familiar with the male leads? Check. Extraordinarily attractive? Check. Resting bitch face? Triple check. Naturally, the jewelry adorning her flaunted her wealthy background as well. 

A slow exhale swept past my lips. 

Honestly, I could only lament her fate. After being shown up by the unstoppable love of the main couple, the meddling villainess could only walk towards misfortune. In the protagonist's "bad ending", the villainess gets off relatively easily: she loses all face and gets expelled from Marivik Academy. In the protagonist's "best ending", the villainess truly suffers: a car hits her and drives off, leaving the woman's right arm paralyzed. It was all very suspicious, so in order to preserve myself...

I should avoid her as much as I can. 

Who am I, then, in this dating sim game?

Well, I am-

"Elinka Cote?" 

A red-haired girl stumbled through the hall's double doors, panting heavily as she leaned against the door frame. Her wide green eyes sparkled, her anxious expression practically begging to be soothed. 

"Yes! I'm here!" 

A rush of whispers covered the room, everyone reacting differently at the new arrival. The guys smiled, the girls glared. The principal took no time to raise her almost non-existent brows and rip into the girl, admonishing her for her tardiness. 

Minutes has passed when Freyda finally released her, Elinka taking an open seat. The guy next to her not-so-subtly snuck a couple of peeks at her, although the redhead seemed completely oblivious. 

Naturally.

Yes, Elinka Cote was the protagonist of this story. She was the golden child, her luck surpassing even Augustus's. 

Although, now that I think about it, her powerful luck may be unfortunate.

There are endings in the game where she had to suffer through all the dramatic story events, only to fail in the end, unable to fully capture the heart of her target.

Now then, who am I in this dating sim game?

"Shian Makili?" 

...She messed up my name. Shion, it's Shion! Principal Freyda, it's Shion Makili.

I glanced around the packed hall and gave a small sigh, deciding not to correct her. 

"Here." 

In this game, I am just an extra.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please comment as you go, would love to hear your thoughts!